A Senate committee has signed off on John Brennan's nomination to head the Central Intelligence Agency, approving the former White House counterterrorism advisor to the new post by a vote of 12 to 3.

Now that the Senate Intelligence Committee has approved President Barack Obama's pick to lead the CIA, the nomination will next head to the full Senate for a vote.

Tuesday's vote came after weeks of wrangling with the White House over access to top-secret information about the use of lethal drone strikes against terror suspects and the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The committee's chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had insisted the panel move ahead Tuesday with John Brennan's nomination to lead the spy agency even as Republicans said they were frustrated with the Obama administration's reluctant disclosure of all the records. Feinstein would not describe the material the committee has received because it is classified.